The weather forecast was for rain, heavy rain, all day ! Fortunately for the six brave anglers that made the long drive to Pidley, they got it a little bit wrong.
Rookery Waters and a first visit to the newest lake on the complex, Crow Lake. On arrival some took advantage of the onsite café, whilst others tried to find what they needed in the overstocked and undersized tackle shop. With only 6 anglers the decisions were which end to fish, followed by odd or even pegs. It stayed dry during setup with light rain starting not long after the whistle. Biblical proportions for a short period, but light for the last hours, stopping nicely before the whistle.
Today would be the long awaited final of the Individual Knockout Cup, between Stuart Baxter and Ray Torrington. Paused for a longer than normal period, whilst cruises and harvesting took priority. Also, the Jim Measures memorial Trophy would be up for grabs with 2023 winner Ray Torrington looking to retain his title.
It was back to winning ways this week for Ray Torrington with 117lbs from Peg number 5. Ray fished a variety of methods trying to locate the fish. Method feeder to the far bank, Paste in front and pellet shallow, but his favourite cat meat in the margin proved to be the winning method. Ray also retained his 2023 Individual Knockout Cup title beating Stuart Baxter.
Second on the day was Pete Wray with 86lbs 5 oz from Peg number 11. Pete rotated his methods with a Hybrid feeder to the far bank, 6mm pellets in the margins, but found paste at 2+2 in the last hour brought the fish in.
Full Result
1st Ray Torrington 117 lbs 0 oz – Peg # 5
2nd Pete Wray 86 lbs 5 oz – Peg # 11
3rd Trevor Walker 71 lbs 4 oz – Peg # 13
4th Jason Chatham 69 lbs 14 oz – Peg # 7
5th Stuart Baxter 61 lbs 14 oz – Peg # 3
6th Neil Speechley 32 lbs 3 oz – Peg # 9
